LEWISTON, Idaho – The UBC Thunderbirds (25-8, 19-3) (RV) held on for a thrilling 8-7 win over the NAIA No.5-ranked Lewis-Clark State Warriors (26-4, 18-4) in the series opener between the two top teams in the Cascade Collegiate Conference at Harris Field on Friday night.
The victory breaks the tie between the two rivals for the conference lead. The 'Birds also take a 3-1 advantage in head to head conference games.
UBC ace Will Anderson rose to the moment in the biggest game of the season so far, striking out 11 batters in 6.2 innings while allowing two runs. Catcher Josh Cote remained red hot at the plate for the Thunderbirds, slugging two homeruns and driving in five runs on three hits
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The game sat scoreless after the first three innings before British Columbia struck for the first run of the contest in the top of the fourth, with David Krahn coming home on a Braeden Scott single.
Cote hit a solo home run in the fifth and followed that up with a two RBI bases loaded single in the six to help grow the margin to 6-0 through six innings.
LC State answered with a four-run bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to two runs. Izzy Madariaga and Sam Weber led off the inning with back-to-back singles before Payton Smith hit them both home. Brandon Nguyen and Jackson Jaha walked to load the bases ahead of Noah Weintraub sending a base hit up the middle to bring the score to 6-4.
In the eighth, Kansai Sugimoto worked his at bat to a full count before drawing a walk. Then Cote came through again, blasting a two-run shot to centre to expand UBC's lead to 8-4.
LC State neared a comeback in the bottom of the ninth but fell just short. Smith, Nguyen, Bryce Johnson and Madariaga all walked to bring in a run. Weber doubled to left to bring in two to make it a one-run game, but that is as close as the Warriors got.
The series continues on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at noon at Harris Field.
